IronPigs roar back to beat Pawtucket, 14-5

Jeff Schuler, Of The Morning Call

Already down by three runs in the top of the third inning, B.J. Rosenberg and the rest of the IronPigs watched the ball off the bat of Jonathan Diaz heading like a rocket for the right center-field gap.

If it found grass, it was almost certain that two more Pawtucket baserunners would score, the IronPigs' deficit would be five, Rosenberg's night would likely be over and an already taxed bullpen would be asked to get the game's final 20 outs.

But running at a full gallop from his position in right field, Leandro Castro ran the ball down just in front of the warning track for the inning's second out, and a Rosenberg strikeout got his team back in the dugout.

A half-hour or so later, reliever Justin Friend took the mound with a one-run lead.

Behind an awakening lineup and a six-inning shutout by the bullpen, Lehigh Valley roared back to hand the PawSox their first loss in a 14-5 victory before a Monday night crowd of 6,912 at Coca-Cola Park.

"That's pretty much what Castro does," said Cody Asche, who had two hits, including his first Triple-A home run, and was on base four times. "I saw him do a lot of things like that last year after I got to Reading from Clearwater."

Castro's defensive play turned around a game that saw Pawtucket (4-1), coming off a season-opening sweep at Scranton, grab a 5-1 lead after 11/2 innings.

But beginning with Cody Overbeck's solo home run in the bottom of the second inning, the IronPigs (2-3) scored 13 unanswered runs on 14 hits while Rosenberg, Friend, Michael Stutes and Jake Diekman blanked the PawSox over the final seven innings.

But the biggest zero, manager Dave Brundage said, was in the third, after a leadoff double and a walk. Thanks to a pair of strikeouts by Rosenberg and Castro's play, those runners stayed put.

"They could've done some damage in that third inning and then we got ourselves a whole different ballgame," Brundage said. "But we got out there with only 5-2 and put up a big four runs in the bottom of the inning]."

Seven IronPigs had multi-hit games including Asche and Tommy Joseph, who both struggled at the plate in the first four games. Asche, who was 2-for-16 in his first four games and took extra batting practice before the game, added a two-run double in the go-ahead third-inning rally. Joseph, who continues to scuffle defensively with two more passed balls, was 2-for-12 coming into the game.

"Asche, he needed that," Brundage said. "I liked what I saw in his early hitting, I liked his approach, and he kind of knows. He's able to coach himself, and he found something earlier today that might click for him. He had three hard-hit balls including a big two-run double [to knock in the first two runs in the third] that really got us back in the ballgame."

"It builds confidence, but it's just one game out of 144," Asche said.

Joseph's two passed balls runs his season total to an alarming six already, but his two-out single knocked in the go-ahead run to cap the third inning, and he later capped the scoring with a linedrive tracer off the facing of the terrace just inside the left field foul pole.

"More so than anything what I liked tonight is that he came back and hit that homer, because that tells me at least he's not taking it to the plate," Brundage said. "That can go a long way; maybe it picks up his spirits a little bit. I know he's down a little bit, trying to find himself back there behind the plate. But he's a 21-year-old back there, and he's got a lot on his plate."

The 16 hits were two shy of the franchise record and the most since they had 17 last July 19 at Durham. The 14 runs are the most by the IronPigs since a 14-4 win over Brundage's Gwinnett Braves last May 31 in Georgia.

The IronPigs' run total is also the highest surrendered by Pawtucket since an 18-1 loss at Durham on May 22, 2010.

Rosenberg gave up a home run on the game's first pitch and another two two-run shot later in the inning, then two more runs in the second. He lasted just three innings, throwing 81 pitches and allowing five runs on six hits.

"He had to work hard for his outs right from the get-go, but he competed," Brundage said.

In their first turn through the rotation, the five starters have a combined 9.55 ERA in 212/3 innings (23 earned runs) and have allowed 32 hits. The bullpen came in with similar numbers but Friend (three innings), Stutes and Diekman combined to allow only two singles over six shutout innings, although they did have to maneuver around five walks.

"The first couple games we've kind of struggled a little bit, and to come out today and throw a six-inning shutout is a confidence-booster," said Friend, who is making the transformation from closer to a multi-inning pitcher. "I knew I was going in there for multiple innings so I just tried to keep it close and let our guys get at-bats."

The offensive support, he said, "made it easier to attack guys."

"They threw strikes and pounded the zone with everything they've got," Joseph said of the relievers.